A Sociolinguistic Study of Bilingualism
in the Rio Grande Valley

1. Introduction. The Rio Grande Valley, on the border
between Mexico and the United States, is a well-known area
of language contact. The present study considers a number
of parameters--specifically age, socioeconomic status,
citizenship, nation of residence, and gender--in examining
the extent to which bilingualism is exhibited by members of
the Rio Grande Sprachbund.

2. Data. The data were collected from a wide range of
speakers on both sides of the border. The results are
presented in summary form in Table 1, below.

Percent Bilingual German-English Speakers

Percent Speakers of German but not English

Percent Speakers of English but not German

Percent neither German nor English Speakers

Rich Old People

8%

1%

54%

37%

Poor Young US Citizens in Mexico

3%

0%

96%

1%

Women in the United States

5%

1%

81%

13%

Middle Class Mexican Citizens

4%

5%

42%

49%

Austrian Citizens

50%

50%

0%

0%

Guatemalan Citizens in Mexico

1%

0%

19%

80%

3. Analysis. We were greatly surprised to find far
lower levels of bilingualism than we had been led to
expect. Also surprising was the fact that Austrian citizens
exhibited a far greater level of bilingualism than any other
group in the study. However, the small sample size of
Austrian citizens in our study may have skewed the results
somewhat. Our sample consisted of two people, Helmuth and
Marta Schlusse, who were vacationing in Matamoros. They
were a very nice couple, although it was hard to carry on a
conversation with Marta, since she didn't speak any English.

4. Conclusions. Although our findings are
diametrically opposed to those of many other researchers, we
believe that our methodology was irreproachable and that our
findings are therefore incontrovertible (aside from the
Austrian question). The question then arises: why should
our results differ so greatly from those of previous
investigators? It is worth noting that, in some ways, our
data do tend to bear our the findings of previous
research. Thus, Guatemalans exhibit a lower level of
bilingualism than do Mexicans, which is natural since
Guatemalans are typically recent arrivals in the language
contact area.

As for the larger question of divergences between our work
and others', the most likely answer is that previous
researchers, knowing the reputation of the Rio Grande Valley
as a Sprachbund, were predisposed to find a greater level of
bilingualism than actually exists. Using sloppy
data-collection techniques, careless data compilation, and
error-ridden statistical analyses, our well-meaning but
hopelessly misguided colleagues naturally ended up seeing
exactly what they wanted to see. Please note that we are
not accusing anyone of deliberately tampering with
data. Rather, the erroneous results of prior research stand
as a clear cautionary tale concerning the difficulty, and
also the importance, of maintaining objectivity when doing
scientific research.